"In the future, any president, this one or another one, when they request us to raise the debt ceiling, it will not be clean anymore. This is just the first step."

-- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in an interview with Larry Kudlow, suggesting fights over the debt ceiling are the new normal.

That's the spirit, McTurtle! Thanks for the heads up!

Chris Matthews just said this on Hardball: "It looks like we're gonna see a doomsday machine." Optimist.

I guess the ol' bipartisan debt deal didn't have the desired effect. So much for Teabagistan's big plan to convince the country that they can turn the economy around. The tyranny of the minority strikes again, the Democrats aided and abetted, and voters are disgruntled to say the least.

So what have we learned? If you don't play by the rules, you win. If you hate the very government in which you chose to work, you win. If you intimidate enough people, you win. If you hold a country hostage, you win. If you use economic terrorism, you win.

Psst! If you crash the economy, everybody loses. Welcome to the new normal.